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Review: Four Seasons Bogota – good hotel, wrong brand?

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This is our review of the Four Seasons Bogota, Colombia, hotel.

When my recent trip to review Iberia’s new A350 ‘Next’ business class seat took me to Bogota, I saw the city had not one but two Four Seasons hotels:

  • Four Seasons Hotel Bogota (the hotel I’m reviewing here)
  • Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina, Bogota (review to follow)

It’s been just over four years since I last stayed at a Four Seasons hotel, on my first long haul trip for Head for Points to Malaysia. That trip took me to the exceptional Four Seasons Langkawi (review) and the much newer Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur (review), both of which set the bar for me when it came to high-end luxury hotels.

There aren’t many cities that are home to two Four Seasons hotels. With just three nights in the city, it was the perfect opportunity to try them both. Four Seasons provided rooms at both hotels for review purposes.

Review: Four Seasons Bogota hotel

Four Seasons Hotel Bogota location

Both of the Four Seasons hotels are within about 10 minutes’ taxi ride of each other, which by Bogota standards means they are practically neighbours. The city has a reputation for unholy traffic, although I didn’t have too much trouble during my stay.

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

(The city is building a metro that is massively delayed. A bus transit system exists but is not widely recommended for tourists and taxis / ubers are so cheap that it’s not necessary.)

My Iberia flight landed around 4:30am in the morning. The roads were clear and it took just 20-30 minutes to reach the Four Seasons Bogota in Zona Rosa / Zona T, next to the Chapinero district with its lively cafes, restaurants and bars.

The location is good – just 15 minutes or so from the city centre, where you’ll find the main museums and historic core. There are (I think) three shopping malls in the area, including a luxury mall as well as outlets for main western brands including H&M. The area is generally where wealthier Colombians come in to eat, drink and shop.

Inside the Four Seasons Bogota hotel

One of the things that surprised me about Bogota was the use of brick throughout the architecture. The Four Seasons Bogota is in one of these more modern brick buildings (photo above)

Inside is a tiny (and I mean tiny) lobby. The check-in desks are directly ahead, there’s a small seating area on the left:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

…. and on the right is a small lobby bar.

This is it when it comes to public space in the hotel. Whilst it’s all perfectly well appointed, it does feel, erm, cosy, and the low ceilings don’t help. It certainly lacks the sense of drama or scale that you often find at other Four Seasons hotels. It actually made me feel quite uncomfortable taking photos!

The hotel was full during my stay and my room was understandably not ready when I arrived at dawn. However, they did say I could relax in the lounge and wait for my room. (I politely declined and gave my old housemate, who now lives in the city, an unwelcome 6am call instead.)

However, I was able to stay in touch with the hotel via Whatsapp and at 1:30pm received a text telling me my room was ready. Check-in was super speedy – I was offered a drink and I was given a suite on the top floor.

Unfortunately, as the hotel was totally full and I was only staying for one night, I wasn’t able to see a standard room.

Suites at Four Seasons Bogota

I was shown to my room by one of the staff and we jumped into the world’s tiniest lift. There was just enough space for two plus my bag.

My suite was one of four on my floor. I believe the hotel is split into three towers, each one with its own lift.

It was a ‘proper’ suite, with separate living space and bedroom. The living space was very big, with a sofa and coffee table set up facing a big TV:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

On the right was a round glass dining table:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

There are lots of mirrors in this room, as you can tell. In the middle, the desk and mini bar:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

Coffee and teas were complimentary but everything else was chargeable.

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

The bedroom was roughly the same size, although half was taken up by the bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.

The bedroom was sleek, with a mostly monochrome colour scheme of greys and browns:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

I particularly liked the lamp shades next to the bed:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

US-style mains sockets were available on both sides as were USB-A chargers. A radio clock was also plugged in. The little doll / toy you can see to the right is used to indicate to staff if you want the sheets changed. Otherwise, sheets are only changed every few days.

There was another big TV facing the bed, with some unsightly access vents underneath it.

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

To the right is the bathroom / wardrobe combination, with a narrow walkway down the middle. There is a separate toilet on the left whilst an open wardrobe and luggage rack is on the right:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

At the far end you’ll find the shower and wash basin – just a single in this case:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

The shower features a rainfall shower head only, and it takes about five minutes for the hot water to run through. My first time using it I did wonder if it was broken, but it is just slow!

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

Toiletries are by Loto Del Sur in big reusable pump bottles:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

Other amenities at the hotel include a small spa (with steam room) and gym. The spa is nice but it is literally just a steam room in the changing room – don’t expect a pool or anything else.

Breakfast at Four Seasons Bogota

Breakfast is served in the ground floor lobby, next to the wine bar. It’s a small room with a window overlooking a lovely tropically planted courtyard:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

There is no buffet laid out. Instead, you can pick and choose from the ‘buffet’ in the menu. This includes:

  • Juices, teas and coffees
  • Bread basket of breads or pastries
  • Seasonal fruit
  • Yoghurt parfait
  • Eggs any style with bacon/sausage and potato OR one of the hot a la carte items

The staff will curate things to your liking. For example, I requested local season fruit and was given a selection of mango (delicious), star fruit, dragon fruit and physalis.

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

I also opted for the ‘mandarina’ mandarin fruit juice – a local favourite – and the very filling Colombian “Calentado” hot breakfast:

Review: Four Seasons Bogota

Conclusion

The Four Seasons is a perfectly pleasant city hotel and if it were (virtually) any other brand it would be lovely.

But I couldn’t help but wonder, throughout my stay, why it was a Four Seasons. Four Seasons hotels are usually iconic, destination hotels with a sense of scale and drama. The Four Seasons Bogota isn’t, which makes me question where it fits into the portfolio.

That said, I can’t fault the hotel. The suite was lovely and well appointed and I didn’t have any problems during my stay.

If you are looking for something unique, then stay tuned for my review of the Four Seasons Casa Medina which ticks all of the boxes above.

Rates at the Four Seasons Bogota start as low as £300 per night. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

How to book Four Seasons Bogota

Four Seasons does not run a loyalty scheme so there is no option to redeem free nights.

We partner with Emyr Thomas who runs Bon Vivant, a London-based luxury travel agent. He works with Four Seasons (amongst others) as a Preferred Partner and is able to guarantee a range of additional benefits when you book with him. These include free breakfast, credits and upgrades similar to the other schemes like Hyatt Prive or Hilton Impresario.

Emyr can usually match any rate offered via the Four Seasons website and get you the above benefits added on.  There are no booking fees and you pay at check-out as usual. You can contact Emyr via our online form here.

Our partnership with Emyr has been going for many years now and you will regularly see readers praising his service in the comments. It is well worth asking for a quote.


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Comments (52)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Jon Joseph says:

    This review is a waste of time to read. The HOTEL IS TOLD IN ADVANCE YOU’RE WRITING A REVIEW AND YOU GET A COMP SUITE! What could go wrong?

    • Rhys says:

      This is true for 99% of all of my hotel reviews.

      You’d be surprised, though, how easy it is to see through it all 🙂 most of the time the only staff who really know are the front desk staff!

    • JDB says:

      @Jon Joseph – that’s very unfair. When the conclusion about the hotel is “the Four Seasons is a perfectly pleasant city hotel” I think it’s quite easy to discern that it’s an unbiased review.

      My wife sometimes uses the “perfectly pleasant” terminology when trying to be polite about something she thinks isn’t very good and it equates to about 6/10. I think the photos and other words/phrases used in the review also demonstrate independence.

      If you were the GM or FS management would you be pleased?

    • RussellH says:

      All I can say is that you obviously have not visited hotels that, supposedly, are trying to sell themselves to you.
      Yes, SOMETIMES the staff will be aware of who you are and go out of their way to make things go well for you.
      Other times they seem to take the view that as you have been comped the room (or got it at a very knock-down price) they take a completely-could-not-care-less attitude.
      In my experience (others may differ) it is the 5* establishments that are the worst offenders – I have described one or two complete horrors in 5* hotels here over the years.
      Small, boutique places with a resident owner-manager do usually go out of their way to create as good an impression as possible.

    • memesweeper says:

      YOU WERE TOLD IN THE OPENING FEW WORDS THIS IS A COMP ROOM REVIEW it was up to you to waste your time by reading on and commenting 🙄

  • Tom C says:

    When you grow at the pace that Four Seasons has, it is inevitable that some turds end up in their portfolio. I really struggle to know where to position them at times. I tend to find they’re all starting to look either similar or so standard they no longer stand out.

    George V and Geneva are absolutely wonderful, Cap Ferrat and Lanai stunners, but Park Lane is not even top 10 best hotels in London. Bora Bora is awful, Sydney is an abomination and luckily their truly dreadful Vancouver property is no more. Tanzania offers one of the worst properties you could ever hope to avoid. And in the Maldives, their properties have been easily surpassed by the Waldorf Astoria.

    • JDB says:

      @TomC I’m glad you added Sydney to the list and although you didn’t specifically make the link, the whole, huge lobby is turd coloured and tired beyond belief with dirty net curtains. I fairly recently walked through from the side entrance and out of the main entrance and just couldn’t believe how shabby the place looked.

      The Four Seasons name doesn’t really stand for anything nowadays; I think the number of major rows they have had with owners and the resulting portfolio turnover or closures is quite telling.

      • S says:

        It surprised me to read that Rhys thought the FS KL ‘set the bar’ for a luxury hotel. I stayed in December, and while the property is smart, the overall experience is completely unremarkable. I got the impression the service could have been bettered by any four or five star hotel in the city. Given KL has an extremely high concentration of five star properties (with just about every major luxury nameplate currently, or soon to be, represented), for the FS to be charging circa 15% more a night is not acceptable. I came away thoroughly annoyed with myself for not choosing the MO or GH!

      • Rizz says:

        Couldn’t agree more. And to add, most of the US properties are tired, grossly overpriced and nothing special.

  • Andy says:

    Thanks for the review. The grammar pedants are somewhat tedious though. Hav a nic day everywon.

  • AirMax says:

    Another vote for transmileno here, it’s very fast!
    Also uncomfortable about the robbery risk of taxis

  • Kpworldtravels says:

    Im also a travel agent and I was going to book my clients here in the summer. Now I am thinking of not. Waiting for tomorrow’s review of the other FS

  • Lady London says:

    Is ” I like the lampshades ” a new code? 🙂

  • Doommonger says:

    I often call in advance and tell them that I am doing a review, You would be amazed at the fawning and occasional freebies that it engenders.

    As an aside Bogota and Columbia is very gay friendly, Brazil on the other hand…..

    Doommonger

  • JP_MCO says:

    There are quite a number of FS properties that are very cookie cutter essentially international business hotels. One example I can think of where I stay regularly is FS Miami (not to be confused with FS Surfside) – it’s certainly not going to set the world on fire but it’s a rock solid business hotel. I think there’s a place for FS properties like this within the collection. FS Atlanta is the same. I find it reassuring going to a city and knowing there’s a Four Seasons I can stay at. Sure, it’s not Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat or Surfside but it serves a function. A lot of business travellers choose the Four Seasons brand because it’s dependable.

    • Rhys says:

      I wonder if it’s time they introduce a sub-tier for these types of properties…

      • Bagoly says:

        “Three Seasons”? “Four Square”? “Twelve Months”?

        • Lady London says:

          “Four Seasons bis” , as the French would say.
          ie “Four Seasons alternate choice” or “Four Sesons B”. Like street addresses 12 and 12 bis, in Paris (12 and 12A or 12B adjacent)

          Really put strength into the ‘b’ of ‘bis’ , when you say it 🙂 .

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